Brick Building, a Fulton Family Affair

At first,Kelly Crissy Nickerson ’04 started building Lego with her sons, Ian and Declan, to help improve Ian’s fine motor skills. She bought a couple of Lego sets and watched Lego videos she found on YouTube.

“I would comment on videos, and Lego fans from around the world responded to me,” said Nickerson, a Fulton, N.Y., native. “They were all very nice.” That’s when she decided to start her own YouTube ch
annel.

Nickerson’s YouTube channel, Kelyn39, dedicated to displaying Lego projects she works on with her family, now has more than 800 followers.

“After chatting with fellow YouTubers, my family ended up going to the Philly Brick Fest in April 2014 and met a lot of the people we spoke with online,” Nickerson said. “That’s when we discovered that we wanted to build and display our creations.”

Nickerson, with the help of her husband, Andrew ’04; mother, Karen Crissy ’01; and the kids set out to build a replica of the Midway Drive-In Theatre in Minetto, N.Y. The outdoor movie venue had just recovered from a severe storm in July 2014 that caused the screen to collapse.

“It was devastating to see that happen, and we had to pay tribute to such a beautiful local attraction,” Nickerson said. “And we’re so happy they rebuilt the screen. This summer we went to see A Lego Brickumentary.”

Nickerson, who studied broadcasting and mass communication at Oswego, said that technology like YouTube and Google Hangouts makes it possible to be a part of the supportive Lego community. The Nickersons chat with other Lego fans via webcam every Saturday.

When she isn’t building Lego creations with her children or posting videos on YouTube, Nickerson works as a library and computer lab aide in the elementary school her boys attend and serves on the Board of Trustees for the Fulton Public Library.

Nickerson said that while playing with Lego is a lot of fun, it has also made a positive impact: “Since getting involved with Lego, Ian’s fine motor skills have skyrocketed, and he no longer needs occupational therapy through the school. It’s been an amazing experience.”